Budget 2027: Here are the changes to pensions and other welfare payments and when they kick in
Beginning in the new year, there will be a €10 increase in weekly core social welfare payments, including the State pension. For the first time in history, the State pension will exceed €300. File picture
Over €30b worth of measures have been allocated to the Department of Social Protection for Budget 2027, with a substantial increase in social welfare payments set to be implemented over the coming year.
The Christmas bonus, a double payment this year, will be paid in December.
€380m is set to be divvied up among approximately 1.4m families in receipt of social welfare.
Beginning in the new year, there will be a €10 increase in weekly core social welfare payments, including the State pension. For the first time in history, the State pension will exceed €300.
There will be an up to €6 a week hike for the Child Support Payment, with parents able to claim up to €64 a week on children under 12 and €84 a week for children over 12.
The first-ever cost of disability payment will be introduced in the new year, with a lump sum payment of €500 to be allocated to people receiving long-term disability payments.
The measure is designed to address the long-term financial losses roughly 240,000 disabled people may incur throughout a financial year, and will be developed with disabled people and advocates.
There will be a €10 increase in the maximum personal rate of weekly disability payments from January 2027, with proportionate increases for qualified adults and people getting a reduced rate.
Subsidies to full-time carers in receipt of the Care’s Allowance will also be hiked by €10.
The weekly income threshold for working family payments is set to rise by €30 for all family sizes, worth up to €18 per week.
The Living Alone Allowance will be raised by €3, from €22 to €25 per week- the first increase to this payment in five years.
Meanwhile, the minimum wage will rise by 79c to €14.94 per hour from January 1.
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Changes to the wage subsidy scheme will kick in.
The scheme provides employers with subsidies for the employment of disabled workers. The minimum hours required to apply for the scheme will drop from 15 to 8.
The Holiday Hunger Pilot Project, a pilot programme that provides meals for approximately 40,000 children experiencing food poverty, is set to be made permanent.
Payments for the €10 employees disregard Disability Allowance and Blind Pension will jump by €10 to €175 per week from July 2027.
Disregards for the carer's allowance will also jump by €150, rising to €1,150 for a single person and €2,300 for a couple.
There will be a €5 increase in Fuel Allowances from €38 to €43 per week over the Fuel Allowance season, which typically runs from September to April.
There will also be an improvement in the Fuel Allowance means test for single pensioners, with the income limit for a single person aged 66 and above set to increase.
“Next year we will spend over €30bn on social welfare, a €2bn increase on 2026,” said social protection minister Dara Calleary.
“That money will be used to protect our pensioners, support our carers, lift more children out of poverty, and help our disabled people with the cost of disability. This is not a financial cost rather it is an investment in our social fabric.”
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